Walt Disney World & Your Local Church - Part 2

Walk into your church on an average Sunday morning. Probably there is a wall with many scuff marks that needs to be cleaned. Probably your Sunday School (or Small Group) room has a plain white wall. There is possibly a plumbing problem in the bathroom. Your auditorium is either (depending on your tradition) a gothic type structure that looks and smells like the middle ages or it is a plain functional room with very little to commend it. Hardly anyone knows what your mission is supposed to be. Your church possibly feels like a cold coporation or an out-of-date monument to a not-so-appealing past. Your pastor may give a boring little homily that can only elicit a "that's nice" at best or he goes into a detailed doctrinal explanation that makes you wish you were in someplace more appealing like the local hospital. You feel like you have to hide who you are for danger someone might find out and then there will be consequences!!! Did I mention that a great feeling of disorganization runs through the enterprise. And what about the suits and ties and the rest of the dress code? The only stories that are told there are done very poorly to the children. And gardening is limited to an artificial tree or two in the lobby.

PERHAPS WE ARE OVERSTATING THIS CASE A LITTLE, BUT THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT YOU DID FIND YOUR CHURCH DESCRIBED IN AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE STATEMENTS.

Well, it does not have to be that way. There are some things WDW can teach us about church life without compromising the Gospel or good doctrine (After all, a church can't teach that it's OK to be a Pirate of the Carribean). We'll examine what churches can learn from WDW without compromising what a church is and supposed to be about in our next post.